The invention of motor vehicle can be treated as a milestone of our civilization, since not only it has shorten the distance for people traveling between two locations, but the progressing of motor vehicle also promote the development of industry. As the progress of technology, the making of motor vehicle is evolving day by day. However, there are still some parts of a motor vehicle are still not changed with the innovation of technology, one of which is the automobile rear mirror.
Rear mirror is a functional type of mirror found on automobiles and other motor vehicles, designed to allow the driver to see the areas that cannot be seen while looking forward, i.e. those areas behind the vehicle as well as the left- and right-hand sides of the vehicle. However, most convention rear mirrors have shortcomings listed as following:                (1) Fixed visual angle: Typically, a conventional rear mirror is a flat mirror affixed to a specific location of a motor vehicle on a swivel mount allowing it to be freely rotated. However, once a rear mirror is set, it can only provide the driver with a fixed visual angle that can not be changed dynamically as it is needed, such as negotiating a curve or parking.        (2) Inferior night vision: A conventional rear mirror can only function well under the condition of good visibility. It is known that conventional rear mirrors can not provide good images at nighttime or while driving in heavy mist.        (3) Easy to be damaged: Since most conventional rear mirrors are arranged extruding out the body of the motor vehicle, it is vulnerable to impacts and collisions, even though they are equipped with fold-away feature.        
In view of aforesaid shortcomings, there are many attempts trying to improve the operation of rear mirrors for motor vehicles. One of which is an image monitor system for automobiles disclosed in T.W. Pat. No. 564830. The image monitor system uses an image capturing device, either arranged at the interior or exterior of an automobile, to fetch images and generate image signals accordingly, while utilizing an organic light emitting device to display the fetched image signals. Although the aforesaid system can be used to capture images behind the automobile for allowing the driver to see the areas that cannot be seen while looking forward, it is effective only at day time since the image caturing device, being the only means available to the image system for fetching images, can not function well under poor visibility, especially at night time.
Another such attempt is an automobile camera surveillance apparatus disclosed in T.W. Pat. No. 580644, in which a infrared camera is used to cooperate with an infrared emitter for enabling the automobile camera surveillance apparatus to acquire good quality images during day time and night time while utilizing an infrared sensor to avoid the whitening effect. Although the aforesaid apparatus can provide good quality images no matter at day time or night time, there are still blind spots exist since the infrared emitter is fixed to illuminate the surrounding of the automobile with a specific angle that it can only provide the driver with a fixed visual angle and can not be changed as it is needed, such as negotiating a curve while backing. In addition, the aforesaid apparatus uses an image delay method to overcome the whitening effect that it is prone to cause the interrupt of image signals and thus have adverse effect on the judgment of the driver.
One further such attempt is an automobile monitor apparatus with automatic visual angle adjustment ability, disclosed in T.W. Pat. No. 588004, which is an apparatus enabling a rear mirror to be adjusted automatically and dynamically. The aforesaid automobile monitor apparatus uses a sensor to detect the turning of the automobile while enabling the rear mirror to rotate automatically according to the detection. Although he aforesaid apparatus can adjust its visual angle automatically, it is lacking of night vision ability that it can not function well during night time or at poor visibility.
Therefore, it is in need of an assistant monitor method and apparatus capable of overcoming the shortcomings of prior arts.